Synonyms of mischievous

mischievous

adjective

ˈmis-chə-vəs 

1

as in wicked

tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness

the children had been so mischievous that we had to pay the babysitter extra and then clean up the mess

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wicked
• playful
• impish
• naughty
• pixie
• roguish
• prankish
• waggish
• rascally
• knavish
• sly
• puckish
• devilish
• cunning
• pixieish
• tricksy
• happy
• elvish
• teasing
• lively
• scampish
• arch
• whimsical
• sportful
• frisky
• energetic
• frolicsome
• lighthearted
• leprechaunish
• coy
• espiègle
• antic
• spirited
• kittenish
• wily
• sportive
• coltish
• crafty
• sprightly
• gay
• troublemaking
• tricky
• artful
• misbehaving
• trickish
• pestering
• riling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• solemn
• grave
• stern
• grim
• sober
• staid
• sedate

2

as in naughty

engaging in or marked by childish misbehavior

punished for their mischievous tricks on the neighbors

Synonyms & Similar Words

• naughty
• bad
• rebellious
• rude
• childish
• errant
• selfish
• contrary
• wild
• wicked
• froward
• impudent
• misbehaving
• immature
• defiant
• improper
• impish
• insolent
• juvenile
• disrespectful
• roguish
• uncontrollable
• disobedient
• prankish
• unruly
• wayward
• indecorous
• uncouth
• unmannerly
• willful
• obstreperous
• headstrong
• evil
• waggish
• ornery
• rascally
• corrupt
• recalcitrant
• elfish
• impolite
• knavish
• rowdy
• intractable
• dissolute
• restive
• perverse
• refractory
• ill-natured
• ill-mannered
• ungovernable
• untoward
• disorderly
• mutinous
• balky
• wrongheaded
• thoughtless
• monkeying
• ruffianly
• unkind
• infantile
• inconsiderate
• pixieish
• arch
• insurgent
• puerile
• unkindly
• transgressing
• babyish
• monkeyish
• jejune
• disobliging
• kiddish

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• behaved
• orderly
• nice
• moral
• obedient
• dutiful
• correct
• proper
• submissive
• compliant
• complying
• acquiescent
• thoughtful
• clean
• divine
• respectable
• polite
• courteous
• decent
• decorous
• considerate
• kindly
• angelic
• amiable
• behaving
• heavenly
• docile
• pleasant
• good-natured
• amenable
• tractable
• cherubic
• modest
• mannerly
• complaisant
• discreet
• mature
• adult
• obliging
• governable
• grown-up

3

as in dangerous

causing or capable of causing harm

mischievous gossip that ruined a good teacher's reputation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dangerous
• harmful
• adverse
• damaging
• detrimental
• bad
• infectious
• evil
• hazardous
• wicked
• poisonous
• pernicious
• injurious
• baneful
• deleterious
• prejudicial
• hurtful
• noxious
• baleful
• ill
• hostile
• destructive
• nocuous
• sinister
• deadly
• venomous
• unsafe
• infective
• ominous
• lethal
• risky
• unfriendly
• menacing
• insidious
• inimical
• contagious
• threatening
• perilous
• malignant
• fatal
• pestiferous
• pestilent
• pestilential
• unwholesome
• unhealthy
• ruinous
• nasty
• killer
• unsound
• unhealthful
• parlous
• noisome
• jeopardizing
• imperiling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• innocent
• benign
• harmless
• innocuous
• safe
• useful
• beneficial
• inoffensive
• advantageous
• good
• favorable
• wholesome
• helpful
• propitious
• healthy
• healthful
• anodyne
• remedial
• salutary
• salubrious
• curative
• hurtless
• sound
• secure
• palliative
• benignant
• nondestructive
• nontoxic
• nonpoisonous
• noninfectious
• nonfatal
• noncorrosive
• nonlethal
• nonpolluting
• nonvenomous

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of mischievous

The actress, 64, made her mark on the iconic ‘70s show as Nellie Oleson, Laura Ingalls’ mischievous classmate. — Yamillah Hurtado, PEOPLE, 10 July 2026

Shooky is a chocolate chip cookie who has a mischievous look about him. — Rin Velasco, The Providence Journal, 10 July 2026

His long white oval scleras and perfect-circle black pupils, sometimes open and sometimes closed, are always inexplicably expressive—managing to seem happy, sad, scared, sleepy, shifty, angry, eager, alarmed, mischievous, or murderous. — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 7 July 2026

The bride and groom both wore custom Christian Dior looks designed by Jonathan Anderson, who’s known for elaborate, mischievous designs. — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 4 July 2026

Video

'Mispronunciations' That May Be Fine

'Mischievous,' 'nuclear,' and other words to pronounce with caution.